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Davos - For the past dozen years, I’ve made the journey to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. It’s been a useful gauge of the national drift with our rands buying less every year. But the slide is now threatening to spiral out of control.
Last night, a chicken caesar salad and a glass of milk set me back R700. Last year the same meal cost R530. Next year it will probably be close to R1 000. To swallow such sharp depreciation will give anyone who pays for their own stuff plenty pause for thought.
Sure, not everyone travels to Switzerland. But all South Africans rely to some extent on imports. Particularly the poor, who are about to feel the sharp edge of the rand’s collapse.
The drought and politically-motivated agricultural policies means SA needs to import R20bn in maize this year. At unit costs that makes the escalation in Swiss caesar salads look tame.
South African President Jacob Zuma complained this week that critics camp against him because he is uneducated. Not true. It’s a lot simpler. People don’t like getting poorer. If he ever dipped into his own wallet while travelling abroad, he’d know exactly why so many people are so angry. If you thought education was expensive, try ignorance.
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